The 1948 Human Rights Declaration of the United Nations is meant to give us all a global message that we as individuals have our human rights which are fundamental to our human existence. Being interconnected, we humans need to respect and promote one another’s rights and human dignity.
The 2021 theme is, Reducing inequalities and Advancing human rights. The very first article of the Declaration says, ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.’ Equality and non-discrimination are at the heart of this principle.
In today’s world, in spite of a fast growing technological advancement, our mind space seems to be shrinking rapidly. Trampling upon people’s human rights in the name of advancement, progress and development is the order for the day. Lynching by marauding foot soldiers, sponsored by religious fundamentalists or terrorist agencies, has a heyday. Brininess tycoons and industrial conglomerates are displacing people from their homestead land at break-neck speed. Anti-people laws are made by authoritarian governments stifling freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship and even right to life.
Increasing wealth in the hands of a few industrialists, landlords, and tycoons is creating an ill-balanced social set up. Those of us who promote competition based schooling through English medium education which is affordable by the rich and the wealthy are contributing to this ill-balanced society. May be, one day those thrown on the margins will rise up against us and we may not find any place to hide our heads. If the beneficiaries themselves are throwing stones at our high-rise facades and glass houses, it is no wonder. Aren’t we reading a message?